Three Killed, Including Child, in Dallas Apartment Explosion

DALLAS, Texas — A suspected gas explosion and subsequent five-alarm fire at an apartment building in Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood claimed three lives Thursday, including a child, officials confirmed during an evening press briefing.

Jason Evans, Dallas Fire Rescue Public Information Officer, stated that recovery and excavation operations are underway simultaneously at the site. Heavy equipment is being used to dismantle the remaining portion of the structure while personnel carefully search debris by hand to locate any additional victims.

“We are still in the recovery phase of the operation,” Evans said. “However, we have joined that with an excavation phase… basically we have had heavy equipment come to the scene to help us tear down part of the building that was still standing.”

Evans confirmed three fatalities: two adult females and one child of unknown gender. Three individuals were transported to local hospitals; one remains in critical but stable condition, while the other two are expected to be released by night’s end. Two additional people sought medical care independently for minor, non-life-threatening injuries.

Fire units were dispatched to the scene at 12:47 p.m. following reports of a gas leak and arrived two minutes later. The explosion occurred while crews were en route, prompting an immediate escalation from a structure fire to a five-alarm response involving approximately 120 firefighters.

Regarding the cause, Evans noted that while reports have circulated suggesting a construction crew unrelated to Atmos Energy may have damaged a natural gas pipeline, Dallas Fire Rescue’s focus remains on life safety and mitigation. “That is not information we know at this time,” he said. “The only thing I can tell you is that the city had no involvement with what was going on in front of the property.”

Crews are expected to remain on scene overnight to preserve the integrity of the investigation. Evans estimated that search teams had examined roughly 35-40% of the building by hand at the time of the briefing and emphasized that operations would continue until every section of the property has been thoroughly searched.

“We may very well find more victims. We just don’t know at this time, but we just have to keep searching,” Evans said.

Displaced residents have been provided hotel accommodations by the city. Kevin Oden, Director of the Office of Emergency Management and Crisis Response, announced that individuals seeking information about missing loved ones can contact the city’s 311 system, where staff are monitoring calls through a dedicated social service response channel.

Evans acknowledged the emotional toll on first responders, noting that the timing—shortly after school dismissal—heightened concerns about children potentially being in the apartments. Support personnel, including chaplains and resiliency coordinators, have been deployed to assist crews.

Updates will be distributed via press releases and official communications as the investigation progresses.